Singtel, Mobike strike payments, IoT partnership

In a statement, Singtel said the underlying aim of the agreement was to provide a “more convenient and enhanced bike sharing experience”, and the partnership extends across Singtel, Optus and regional associates Airtel, AIS, Globe and Telkomsel.

Mobike opened for business in Singapore in March, its first market outside of China, and is now present in more than 200 cities around the world. In recent months it launched in Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Korea and Australia.

Singtel and Mobike will work together to explore mobile payments for bike rides while leveraging Singtel’s Open Platform payments gateway to enable the operator’s mobile customers across Asia to pay for trips using direct carrier billing or the group’s mobile wallets.

The companies will also explore new IoT technologies, including eMTC and NB-IoT, to enable the bikes to be located more precisely even in areas where mobile connectivity is lacking.

Data analytics is another element in the partnership: Mobike’s platform currently generates more than 30TB of data daily.

New marketing initiatives include methods of promoting both companies’ services, for example the Mobike Pass which allows users to have unlimited rides without paying a deposit.

Arthur Lang, CEO of Singtel International Group, said the company’s goal is to support “the growth of IoT and expand the range of digital offerings to all customers across the group”.

“This collaboration combines the strengths of our companies to deliver greater choice and convenience like Mobike’s services to our customers,” he said.